


In A Different Light

by EmmaLuLuChu



Series: Skipped a Few Steps-verse [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adopted Child, Family Fluff, Gen, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, lance (voltron) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25731142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaLuLuChu/pseuds/EmmaLuLuChu
Summary: Hunk teaches a family recipe to his newly adopted child Kade, and Kade teaches Hunk how to see things differently.(a short prequel to Skipped a Few Steps)
Series: Skipped a Few Steps-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866466
Kudos: 1





	In A Different Light

**Author's Note:**

> let's hop back into cute Hunk and Kade stuff, yeah? yeah.

Being perfect wasn’t a good ideal state of being to achieve or destin towards. The way society had come about to ‘perfect is everything’ was confusing and untraceable and it had always baffled Hunk as he came into his own and grew up, and eventually thought he had to accept it.

Perfection maybe existed, but only in terms of symmetry like drawing a heart equally sized on both sides or a sight that was satisfying to someone like slotting a peg into a perfectly sized hole.

In human life? It was unattainable, only because it was viewed differently by everyone. What may be perfect to one person could be not perfect at all to another. A quiet and simple living could be preferred over a wild and lucrative one and vice versa depending on who you talked to.

Getting into if people themselves were perfect or not is always a debate and unwinnable, from opinions to looks to actions. Holding anybody up to ideals of perfection was never realistic, even towards celebrities who had the means to become ‘perfect’. Everybody at some point in time is bound to make some choice that would affect this ‘perfect standard’ they were always being held up to and it was something Hunk learned was unfair to him and to others.

Hunk was far from perfect, he made mistakes and choices that were enough to knock him from ever being called perfect in other people's eyes, and in his own too. Some found problems with the way he existed, like his weight or his status as a man that loved men. He found issues when doing self-evaluations, like how bad he was at getting out of the house on time to drive to work or when he let laundry pile up to the point that he had to scrounge his closet for stuff he hardly wore and disliked wearing to avoid doing it yet.

He was anxious enough as it was over many other things in his life, so over time he began to let go of the worries that he needed or had to be perfect, to others and to himself. He would get better at things he wasn’t perfect at over time, and it became less and less of a priority what others may think about his abilities and if they were ‘perfect’ or not.

It would take somebody else entering Hunk’s life to make him reconsider the idea of perfect in a different light.

-

Hunk breathed out a sigh as he finally spotted his house, relieved to be home for the day after all the long hours at work, including the drive to and from. He was enjoying being an engineer tech, he could properly apply the associate’s degree he had and Hunk enjoyed the hard work, but the hours had begun to wear down on him and had become a slight inconvenience as of late.

Within two minutes he had parked in the driveway, climbed out and locked his car, and was eagerly making his way to the front door in anticipation to make one of his Mother’s most favorite recipes for dinner tonight, excited to share it with the newest change added into his life.

The said new change however was two steps ahead of Hunk’s plans, already standing and bouncing about on the small front porch, gleefully calling out to him with their brown doe eyes lit up and smiling wide.

“Daddy! Daddy you’re finally home! Yay yay YAY!”

Hunk could immediately feel himself perk up as his adopted child welcomed him home, his tired body waking up even further and making him hurry up to give them a hug, the child giggling at being lifted and wrapping their arms tightly around him.

“Yes I am! How was your day at school Kade? Did you have a good time with Uncle Lance?”

Kade nodded into Hunk’s shoulder, leaning back enough so they could excitedly chatter on about their day.

“It was really good! I got to be line leader THREE WHOLE TIMES! Then Uncle Lance played a lot of Disney songs when he tooken me home, and we went around the street on my trike!”

“Wow! It sounds like you had the best day ever.” He carefully set Kade back onto the ground, turning to Lance who had appeared in the doorway at some point. “Hey, thanks again for watching Kade.”

Lance waved his hand, leaning against the door frame. “No worries, we had fun. They were perfect like always, it’s safe to say that short of it making me lose my job, I’m always more than happy to keep an eye on your little buddy when you need it.”

Hunk would forever be thankful for Lance, not only had he encouraged Hunk to adopt Kade when nobody else had, but was helping however he could while Hunk worked out his job schedule for the upcoming summer and got through the rest of the school year, and undoubtedly would be there for any future problems.

“Everything you’ve done for me means a lot, more than I can properly put into words.”

Lance didn't hesitate in reaching out to hug him, a hand patting Hunk’s back reassuringly. “Anything for you dude, you’re important to me.”

His best friend left soon after that, promising Kade that he would call them if he got too busy and couldn’t visit, and reminding Hunk that he can always text if he needed help. The rest of the night went fairly normal after that, Hunk doing his best to stick to the routine he had put together that seemed to work best for Kade. They worked on homework, played a quick tournament on Mario Kart, and began to cook dinner together. He had quickly learned that Kade disliked red foods, because most of the red things they had eaten before were spicy ‘like the sun’ to quote them. For now Hunk made sure to avoid putting red foods into things until he could find a good situation to introduce Kade to non-spicy red things (mainly fruits, and maybe tomatoes), luckily he knew some traditional Samoan dinners that didn’t include peppers.

It was a wonderful feeling to share and cook these recipes with Kade, Hunk imagined this is what his family had felt when they had cooked with him years ago when he was younger. Kade dutifully washed the spinach while Hunk quickly cooked up the corned beef, and once it was all ready they put everything into a oven-safe dish and poured coconut milk overtop.

“It looks like a lot Daddy, can we really eat it all?”

“The spinach is going to get much smaller when we heat it up, so it won’t be a problem.”

Kade stared at Hunk after his claim, shifting their eyes to squint at the dish through the oven door. Hunk had to keep from laughing at the suspicious look, pulling out a pot for the rice they’d have with the palusami.

“Just wait and see, okay? Let’s work on the rice right now.”

By the time the rice was steamed and ready to eat so was the palusami, and Hunk was delighted at the awe-induced look on Kade’s face when they saw that the spinach had completely shrunk in the oven.

Soon enough their small table was set up with plates and spoons, the food set proudly in the center and waiting to be eaten up.

Kade stared at it all with a big smile, filling Hunk’s heart with warmth.

“It looks perfect Daddy!” Kade looked up to him, eyes wide and shining, and said something in a gentle voice that took Hunk by surprise, “It’s perfect like you.”

This was the first time Hunk had ever heard Kade call anything perfect, and it was weird how much having it directed at him made him feel disbelief.

“What makes you say that? Is it because I helped make the food?”

Kade adamantly shook their head, sitting up on their knees and leaning over the table to be closer to Hunk.

“Because you cook lots of good breakfasts and lunches and dinners and desserts, and you’re the most beautifullest guy I’ve ever seen, and you let me pick my clothes, and you don’t call me a boy or a girl like I’ve always wanted, and I just really really love you!”

His child was panting for breath after their long winded explanation, face scrunching up in thought before smoothing out and smiling at Hunk.

“That’s it.”

Hunk felt ridiculous about the smile on his own face, he was happy that Kade noticed and appreciated everything they had said he did, but there was still something that refused to let him accept being called perfect. He leaned on the table too, reaching a finger out to poke Kade’s nose. His little buddy giggled and wiped at their nose, allowing Hunk some time to think of a response,

“I really really love you too, and I love doing all that stuff for you also. That’s the stuff I usually do though, why does that make you think I’m perfect?”

At this point, Hunk could tell he was reading into this way too much. Kade was just about to turn six years old, they had probably just made a connection that perfect was something used to describe things and had wanted to use it. They likely didn’t realize the complexity involved with it.

Kade stared at Hunk as if he was already supposed to know the answer, giving a comically big sigh and climbing down from their chair. They quickly scurried to Hunk’s side, lifting their arms up in a silent question to be picked up. Hunk, still very confused, obliged his child and picked them up. Kade leaned in close, holding up a finger in the air that they had to have copied from Lance, speaking matter of factly,

“Because Ms. Wilson said that perfect is what we say when we’re happy with something.” Kade wrapped their arms around Hunk’s neck, brown eyes lit up with love and directed at him. “You make me happy Daddy.”

Hunk was stunned, more than he had ever been in his life at the simplicity in Kade’s reasoning that they had learned from their Kindergarten teacher.

He had never thought of looking at being perfect or perfection as something more than its literal definition, it had always been something complex and unattainable, but now he was feeling really stupid for having such a strict view on something so simple, and a touch emotional because he made Kade happy.

_ He made his child happy _ .

Hunk hugged Kade tight, sniffling as he tried to hide how those words had made him weepy this quickly.

Among all of the trial and errors of learning to be a father, it meant more than he would ever be able to express in words or feelings how much that one sentence reassured him that he had made the right choices, or how lucky he felt to have Kade in his life.

“Are you okay Daddy? I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“No no, no way buddy I’m not sad,” Hunk pulled them apart, glad he hadn’t let any tears fall, smiling down at his child who looked at him with an adorable face of concern, “You just taught me something new. You’re perfect too, because you also make me happy.”

Kade’s eyes went wide at his declaration, the biggest smile breaking over their face that was then accompanied with a wiggling body.

“Yay! You make me happy and I make you happy! That means we’re  _ both  _ perfect!”

“You bet we are. Now, let's eat, we don’t want our yummy food to get too cold.”

Hunk placed Kade back in their seat and began to put food onto their plate, keeping the amount small just in case they turned out not to like it (which they actually turned out loving, and asked for more later). The taste of home on his tongue and seeing Kade enjoying that same taste too would forever leave him filled with joy.

After dinner, while he was washing dishes as Kade brushed their teeth, Hunk nearly jumped as he felt tiny arms suddenly wrap around his leg out of nowhere. Upon looking down he was greeted to the sight of Kade, wearing fuzzy Trolls pajamas and toothpaste all over their lips, staring up at him with a quiet yet serious look.

“I love you Daddy.”

Hunk smiled and dried his hands, lifting Kade up into his arms and using the towel he used for his hands to wipe their mouth off.

“I love you too buddy.”

-

Being perfect wasn’t a good ideal state of being to achieve or destin towards. The way society had come about to ‘perfect is everything’ was confusing and untraceable and it had always baffled Hunk as he came into his own and grew up, and eventually thought he had to accept it.

Perfection maybe existed, but only in terms of symmetry like drawing a heart equally sized on both sides or a sight that was satisfying to someone like slotting a peg into a perfectly sized hole.

In human life? It was unattainable, only because it was viewed differently by everyone. What may be perfect to one person could be not perfect at all to another.

Or their definition of it could be something far simpler than others wanted to extrapolate it out to be.

Hunk was far from perfect, he made mistakes and choices that were enough to knock him from ever being called perfect in other people's eyes, including his own, and he had been somebody that always extrapolated it more than it ever should be.

Until Kade showed him different.

It meant all the world and more that Kade thought Hunk was perfect just as he was, and believed all it took to be perfect was to make them happy. 

He would always make sure to remind his child that they were just as perfect too, for the exact same reason they believed in.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this short and sweet piece exploring the relationship from one of my most favorite fanworks <3
> 
> really this has been finished for a long while, as this was originally part of a Hunk-centric zine which you can guess for yourself what happened to it :))  
> a part of me has been so angry and bitter about it, especially seeing the lucky few zines that had the chance to persevere compared to the much smaller stuff i was a part of, but man i don't want to continue giving energy to that.
> 
> i'm just relieved that attention at all was brought to the numerous other zines that underwent the same fate and demanded answers, and spurred on fandom-wide education to look carefully for zines that turn out to be scams. to hold zine creators accountable. please continue to do that, doing so helps heal creators like me who have been stung by those scams.


End file.
